


Of Breaking Points and Consolations

by under_the_dork_tree



Category: Fallout (Video Games), Fallout 3
Genre: Drinking, F/M, Sexual Content, Swearing, sex mention
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-05
Updated: 2015-04-05
Packaged: 2018-03-21 08:03:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,247
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3684513
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/under_the_dork_tree/pseuds/under_the_dork_tree
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jamie is pushed to her limits, and that's a hard point to get to with her. Butch is a little scared of what's becoming of her. After one of them snaps, how long until the other comes tumbling down too? A short, really rushed Butch/LW fic bc i miss this ship and i need to contribute more</p>
            </blockquote>





	Of Breaking Points and Consolations

Butch was reckless, sure, but none in comparison to Jamie that week her dad died. All the drunken fist fights and jet in the wasteland hardly hit the line that she was dancing on. Butch was scared for her, honestly; you can only take so many bullets in the thigh before shit starts going down. But she’d just pop some buffout and pour a shot of whiskey on it, she even cracked a smile at him once. 

It made him feel sick to his stomach, and not the way he normally felt sick to it around her either. That was butterflies. This… this was fear. He couldn’t pinpoint the fear, exactly, maybe it was fear of losing her, his only friend, but maybe it ran deeper. Seeing Jamie like that was heartbreaking, yeah, but it was eye opening too. Got him thinking about how far one person could be pushed until they snap. Jamie was certainly hanging by a thread, if anything. He tried putting himself in her position, imagined Brotherhood hardasses yelling at him left and right to pick up the pace on the endless number of missions they send him on. Imagined having his dad, and his dad’s entire life work, murdered right in front of him, as he stood helpless aside then was thrown right back into the action. Sure as fuck sounded like hell to him. 

He didn’t know how to console her. She was so rash, so intimidating, and Butch was afraid she was going to bail on him, too. It was no secret he was expendable, but up until then she seemed to like having him around. He was a confidante, a laugh, a friend. Lately, he just seemed to function as a walking cooler and an easy fuck. He dealt, though. Yeah, externally he played it cool; “Finally getting sex out of the deal, huh? Knew coming with you would pay off eventually, nosebleed,” he would tell her as she laced up her boots. But, as you could expect, it was a coverup. Lately, most of the things Butch did around Jamie were coverups. It was just how he coped, he supposed. 

Whatever, though, right? It would pass. She would be fine. She’d take a close call one day, weep into his shoulder and be back to her old, uptight, prudish self. He could deal with it for a while. 

But honestly, he couldn’t. He made fun of Jamie before, she was too nice, too goody, too sweet. He’d call her lollipop and yank her hair, like they were twelve again. He missed that in a good three days time. He was a wreck by day five. 

The first few days, it was all heated sex and rough tangles with raiders. They’d make bets on who could kill the most (Jamie always won) and who could get most creative with their forms of fatality (Jamie beat him at that too). By day four, Jamie had pinned Butch down and he just sort of accepted it, he didn’t fake the lust, didn’t reciprocate. He just feigned a smile when she finished with him, ran his fingers through his hair and lit a cigarette. 

Day five, he shoved her off him. They were in some trailer somewhere, he didn’t know. It was cold, it smelled like rotting flesh, and he was drinking a little more than usual. She dove at his lips impulsively, and he wasn’t in the mood, to put it lightly. He shoved her back by her chest, and she whimpered a noise of confusion.  
“Just… not today, J. Okay?” He scratched his head and sighed.

“Oh come on, Butch, I’ve been stressed all day, I need a little relief.”

Butch groaned. “Yeah, and I need a break from being your dumb little toy, okay? Not tonight.”

Jamie sat back and pursed her lips. “Uh? You seemed eager enough before, though?”

“Yeah, maybe because it was the only way I could get through to you.” He averted his eyes from her and crossed his arms, like he was a fed up little kid. Jamie just tilted her head.

“What the hell are you talking about?”

Butch sighed, took a moment, then leaned forward and took her hands in his. “Be honest. Before your dad, did you ever really even have any interest in me? Or am I just here for you to get your sweet kicks off of now?”

Jamie laughed to herself, as if what she was hearing was something absurd, off the wall, unbelievable. Butch stayed solemn, and she lost her faux-awestruck. “Butch, you know I care about you, okay? You know that. I’m just… this is rough for me…”

“I know, J. But I mean, what the fuck? Just because you’re going through shit doesn’t mean you’ve got to take it out on me. Fuck, J, you ain’t even you anymore, it seems. You’re so bizarro lately, it’s making me feel useless, like you don’t even want me here for anything but cheap sex.”

“Can you just… Can you just do this for me? Please?” 

Butch breathed out, exhausted. “No, J. I can’t, it’s fuckin’ killing me, and you know it.”

“Butchie, I need this…”

“Don’t call me that,” he met eyes with her, and realized hers were glazed over. “It don’t sound right, okay? I don’t know if you’re guilting me, or what, but this ain’t gonna fly with me. I’m not… I’m not here to be your decoy.

“I wanna help you,” he continued, lifting his hand from her palm to her face, cupping her cheeks. Butch had a knack for being passionate when need be. “I can help you out. I can make it better.”

Jamie leaned into his touch eagerly, yearningly, like a moth was drawn to a flame. Tears welled up in her eyes but stayed there, and she closed her eyes to let them go. “I’m sorry. I don’t know what the fuck I’m doing.” She laughed at herself as she pushed herself forward and curled up in Butch’s arms. 

“Yeah, I can tell,” Butch grinned in return, pressing his nose into her messy hair. It was matted from the harsh cleanings in irradiated waters, and tinted green as well, making it less appealing to be taking in, but what the hell? He didn’t care. 

“I miss him. He was a jackass, but I miss my dad. I miss everyone, Butchie.” She sighed, her head resting against Butch’s chest. 

“Yeah, I know, Lollipop, I miss ‘em too.”

“You think everyone outta the Vault’s doing okay? I’m so worried about them. I can’t stop worrying that I fucked everything up for you all. I’m worried I got everyone killed.”

“Well, you did fuck everything up, but it was a good thing. At least, I thought so. I mean, you know what Vault-Tec was really doing, if it weren’t for you and your dad, we’d all still be stuck in that crazy ass plan of theirs. You did good in my eyes, at least, nosebleed.”

Jamie grinned up at him. “If it looks good in your eyes then I probably fucked up, huh?”

“Ha, yeah, probably,” He stroked a finger up her arm and planted a kiss on her neck. “We’re spending the day here tomorrow, okay? I swear to god, if you go and try to pick a fight…”

“Okay. You better have brought the cards. I’m going to kick your ass in go fish, Butchie.”

“Oh yeah? We’ll see about that…”


End file.
